Having ridden in Sydney and Brisbane, I'd say Brisbane fits better. Despite what locals might say the traffic is fine (it is a case of perspective!), the roads good, and the ride options excellent.

I know it is outside of your search area but I rode around Wellington in NZ last year. There is a 30 km flat loop around the Bay's that has no traffic lights until you hit the CBD as it starts on the City fringe. MTB trails are 5 minutes from the CBD and there are even more within 10 minutes of the CBD. The major factor is the somewhat appalling weather Wellington has. Coffee-wise, if you think Melbourne is good then try Wellington!

Can confirm that. Bunch rides any day of the week. Sometimes with Aussie and international champions. Good quiet roads with fast flat sections, rolling hills and climbs. Velodrome, vets and cycling Aust clubs.

I like Adelaide a lot. In the city, traffic is pretty much non-existent. Loads of amazing climbs within 20km of the CBD. Heck, you can go do a climb, cross the city then come back down to the coast all in one ride. I'd say it'd be hard to come close to what we've got.

And for the commuter, unless you're in the hills it's pretty flat. Singlespeed-able almost anywhere for sure.

ha...its the constant headwind that follows you no matter what direction you seem to be riding. (well its felt like that the last few days)

Can confirm that. Bunch rides any day of the week. Sometimes with Aussie and international champions. Good quiet roads with fast flat sections, rolling hills and climbs. Velodrome, vets and cycling Aust clubs.

I'd echo all that... but for Ballarat.

I wasn't going to post, because in these threads everybody just says "where I live" (or "the brand I ride" or "the operating system I use" or "the church my family goes to"), and in perspective, Ballarat misses out a bit on truly epic climbs - although I can roll out my front gate (at ~460m elevation) and be up one of our two 750m mountains after 13km of near continuous climbing [1], most of which is on quiet rural roads. And that's something we have in spades - quiet rural roads. Forest or farmland, with or without hills, as you prefer. When I duck out for a quick road ride, I'm out of town within a few km.

Road, track and MTB racing (short-course) every week in summer and at least once a month throughout the year, multiple bunch rides every day of the week [2], endless (and quietly increasing) singletrack to get lost in. And big national/international grade road racing to watch a couple of times a year (Buninyong is almost an outer suburb of Ballarat).

I've lived in Sydney, Melbourne and Ballarat... and there's really no comparison. Ballarat's the pick for cycling. To be honest, I reckon any smaller city would be a big improvement over a capital city.

tim

[1] I present as exhibit A, one night after the kids were in bed:That's gotta be better than sitting on the couch watching TV [2] I once thought I'd been stood up by an acquaintance who talked me into coming along on a bunch ride on a Saturday morning, until half way around I figured out that I'd joined the wrong bunch... rolling out at the same time from a _different_ corner on the same street. Easy mistake to make.

goneriding wrote:Having ridden in Sydney and Brisbane, I'd say Brisbane fits better. Despite what locals might say the traffic is fine (it is a case of perspective!), the roads good, and the ride options excellent.

I know it is outside of your search area but I rode around Wellington in NZ last year. There is a 30 km flat loop around the Bay's that has no traffic lights until you hit the CBD as it starts on the City fringe. MTB trails are 5 minutes from the CBD and there are even more within 10 minutes of the CBD. The major factor is the somewhat appalling weather Wellington has. Coffee-wise, if you think Melbourne is good then try Wellington!

LOL (AT) Wellington - Local radio station called Radio Windy. Nothing to beat it on a nice day anywhere IMHO.But how many nice days in a year? Thats one weather filthy place - I spent a few years there.Fabulous place during the summer month (Feb) and the scenery is great. Wind surfing capitol of the south pacific. Brrrrrrr

Well thats an interesting lot of replies. I guess most people on this forum live in cities so its no wonder most people vote for a city. I spent too many years living in sydney and adelaide and wouldn't live in either again or any big city unless it became more like amsterdam. Lots more bikes, lots less cars. Good food for thought though. Thanks everyone.

You clearly have a totally differ idea of what is good for cycling than myself and the majority of people!

I am with Il Padrone, the inner north of Melbourne is the best place for cycling in Australia. Judging by the popularity of cycling many people agree. I would consider Horsham and the Grampians as not conducive at all for cycling. Of course this is all opinion, each to their own.

You bet I do. I like the mix of road and off road. Essential for variety. You suckers in your cities have no sodding idea what you have/are/will always missed/missing out on...

I won't claim it's the best place in Australia for biking, because I haven't lived in plenty of them. Here's why I like Hobart for biking though.

- Cat. 1/ Super category (depending on your classification system) climb on your doorstep- Awesome mountain biking on a mix of purpose built and various other trails on your doorstep- Superb scenic coastal rides with plenty of tasty pitstop options- In comparison to the mainland traffic is practically non existent.

The catch is that cycling conditions here are often not for the faint of heart. Wind is very common, aside from a few select routes you are tackling hills and on occasion winter days can be a brutal struggle.

You clearly have a totally differ idea of what is good for cycling than myself and the majority of people!

I am with Il Padrone, the inner north of Melbourne is the best place for cycling in Australia. Judging by the popularity of cycling many people agree. I would consider Horsham and the Grampians as not conducive at all for cycling. Of course this is all opinion, each to their own.

+ 1 for Coona and surrounds the flinders is also hard to beat never done the rest

I've cycled right through the Flinders Ranges. Yes it's nice country to cycle - wouldn't want to live there though (and especially not expect to commute anywhere by bike), it's a long way between drinks

Riding bikes in traffic - what seems dangerous is usually safe; what seems safe is often more dangerous.

Yep. And your present location of Townsville is close behind Hobart. You have all the flat roads you could ask for, Castle Hill in the middle of town for variety, Hervey range for a climb into another world, Paluma range, Mt Stuart, Pangola Park cafe between Woodstock and Giru, for your coffee stop, and much more.

On the basis that even if some nirvhana is "the best", if I am not there then what value do I get of it?

Therefore, the best place in oz for cycling is Perth. Where I am right now. If I was in Adelaide right now then it would have to be Adelaide. Anywhere else that I am not currently at can't be ridden by me at this time.

jasonc wrote:I've lived in 3 states so can say out of those (Vic, SA, QLD), I'd choose QLD everytime. I lived in the suburbs of the capital city in each

Melb - too flat. boring. have to go a long way out to find a climb, crap weatherAdelaide - crap weather. good mix of roads. probably Australia's worst driversBrisbane - good weather all year round. the wet season can be a challenge, but it's rare. decent mix of flats and climbs around. though decent climbs are further away.

Out of curiouslity where do you live? Oh, silly me, it seems to be Brisbane - warm yeah, probably never a cold winter. But also humid and rain every third day. I am sure that I would find Brisbane OK but at the same time I would certianly not be in a position where I could justifiably rate the weather in Adelaide, Greek Islands, Perth, California as crap.

Last edited by ColinOldnCranky on Thu Nov 29, 2012 5:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.